By Blake Haas

BLOOMINGTON – At the end of May, legislators in Springfield were able to preserve the biodiesel sales tax exemption, in what the top leader of the soybean association says will help farmers all across the state.

“When you talk about renewable fuels, and we talk about biodiesel, we know that we fit very well in the overall energy policy of this great state and what that will look like,” Mike Levin, Senior Director of Government Relations for the Illinois Soybean Association said. “So we want to expand on biodiesel, and we really moved a lot of mountains on this past legislator and had great discussions and really were able to move our legislation forward in many ways.”

Under the legislation, the soybean association was able to preserve the biodiesel sales tax exemption, which exempts about 13 cents a gallon on diesel fuel blended with 11% biodiesel.

Speaking with WJBC’s Marc Strauss, Levin said the association want’s to expand on biodiesel and educated farmers about the exemption.

“We also know that the Governor (JB Pritzker) has early on put up our incentive as a great need to fill some holes in the budget and different things, and we were also successful in taking that back off. And having the administration and various other legislators really understand the importance of what we bring to the table. And how we can truly fit into obviously the overall energy policy.”

According to Levin, Illinois’s biodiesel industry has grown from less than 20 million gallons per year in 2003 to more than 200 million gallons.

Levin added that the biodiesel industry in Illinois is supporting about 2,000 jobs.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].